Wednesday, May 16th, 2018

The Nebraska Republican Party saw a huge drop in voter turnout for Tuesday’s Primary Election, while Nebraska Democrats enjoyed an increase as the party continues to build muscle and momentum heading toward the 2018 General Election.

The GOP saw a drop of more than 25 percent in the number of Republicans voting — 168,000 compared to 225,000 in 2014.

Democrats, by contrast, saw a nearly 18 percent increase in the number of voters casting ballots from 2014 — 90,500 compared to 77,000 in 2014.

“The Nebraska Democratic Party has momentum and continues to grow its base,” said Chair Jane Kleeb. “The Democratic base, and Independents joining us, are energized and ready to end the current one-party stranglehold on our state and nation.”

The Democrats saw a more than 70 percent increase in the number of people who requested vote-by-mail ballots for the 2018 Primary Election compared to 2014, the last midterm election that had a U.S. Senate seat in play and a race for governor.That compares to a paltry 14 percent increase on the number of GOP vote-by-mail ballots requested.

Democrats requested more than 31,000 vote-by mail ballots in 2018, compared to some 18,000 in 2014 and returned nearly 24,000 vote-by-mail ballots, nearly a 98 percent increase from 12,000 in 2014.

Republicans requested about 40,000 vote-by-mail ballots, compared to about 35,000 in 2014 and returned 33,000 ballots, less than a 38 percent increase from the 24,000 in 2014.

In addition, some 8,400 people requested non-partisan mail-in ballots, compared to about 5,000 in 2014 — a nearly 70 percent increase. That is important because the Nebraska Democratic Party has allowed non-partisan voters to request a Democratic ballot since 2014 for all federal and state races, unlike the GOP.

Some 4,900 non-partisan voters cast ballots, up 75 percent from the 2,800 in in 2014.